US Air... is this dishonest do I expect too much?

[rayelias]

The day after we return from WDW in about 10 days, my DF was scheduled to fly into New Orleans for a business conference. Needless to say, it was cancelled and moved to a different city.

We called US Air and told them we needed to switch destinations (the price for the new flight was actually about $20 cheaper than the NOLA flight). They told us that there was a $100 change/cancellation fee! The airport is not open, and probably wouldn't be in 10 days, so even if we wanted to, US Air could not fly us into NOLA. The only option they gave was they would allow us to rebook to NOLA within 6 months with no penalty, otherwise it's $100.00 to change.

Is this kind of smarmy on the part of US Air, or am I being unreasonable? I honestly thought they were joking when they said there would be a cancellation fee!

I e-mailed the company (through their website), but no one has responded. I'll give them a few more days, thinking maybe after the weekend someone may respond. There were one or two occasions in the past where I had to reschedule flights, and the other airlines were more than accomodating - no additonal fees, which is why I was so surprised at US Air. This is a disaster and the airport is closed, it's not like I'm being fickle.

What do you think? Who is unreasonable... US Air or me?

 

[Shelby5514]

That's poor on they're part, hopefully someone will see your e-mail after the holiday and will waive the change fee.

 

[Dreamer04]

This is from their website-

Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, US Airways will allow passengers with tickets issued on/before August 24, 2005 to or from New Orleans with scheduled travel dates from August 27 to October 31, 2005 to change their flight dates. US Airways will waive the standard change fee, advance reservation and/or ticketing requirements. Customers whose flights have canceled may elect to receive a refund in lieu of rescheduling.

Ticketed passengers traveling to / from New Orleans can rebook their travel for up to one year. Originating and destination cities can be changed.

You must rebook your reservation and have your tickets reissued by October 31, 2005. Your trip must begin within one year of the original date of ticket issue.

When you are ready to travel, call US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322 with your ticket number to reschedule. We will continue to assess conditions in New Orleans and update this policy as necessary.

usair.com

Sounds to me like you had someone with the wrong info-call back!!

 

[mickeyfan2]

I voted for US Air but wanted to vote for George Bush. He should have the city ready for the convention.

 

[DebbieB]

The link to the info Dreamer04 posted is here:

http://www.usairways.com/travel/airport/index.htm

Call back and ask for a supervisor if you don't get satisfaction. USAirways recently closed their Pittsburgh reservations center and outsourced to El Salvador and the Phillipines. You are lucky if you get someone who speaks clear English.

 

[abaldacci]

I hate US Air the hub in charlotte and I have been hoping they would go belly up where we would or could get some new carriers in here. I will not fly them at all.

 

[DebbieB]

I hate US Air the hub in charlotte and I have been hoping they would go belly up where we would or could get some new carriers in here. I will not fly them at all.

If you think it's bad, you should be in Pittsburgh where they abandoned a hub and cut half their flights. We got some new carriers but they mostly fly to the most popular destinations (Orlando, Las Vegas). It's hard to get a non-stop flights these days to other places (I recently had to connect in Charlotte to get to Jacksonville).

 

[mhf]

I am currently trying to get them to refund my Dec. New Orleans tickets I purchased with Frequent Flyer Miles. They'll only change stuff for flights thru end of October for now, so here I sit. My only condolence is that I am better off than the folks who live in New Orleans.

I called reservations twice and they weren't helpful and then I called the Dividend Miles # at which point I got info, even if I didn't like it.

MHF

 

[Disneyjosh229]

George Bush?! LOL

Give the poor guy a break

 

[rayelias]

George Bush?! LOL

Give the poor guy a break

Without turning this political, I was kind of getting tired of seeing GWB get lambasted and blamed for every little thing that was (or wasn't) going on with the situation by some over on the Community Board with no blame at all going towards the mayor or governor (or the people who ignored the evacuaton order) or anyone else for that matter. IMHO, it was inappropriate to politicize the situation at that time. There's time for that AFTER the situation is under control and the citizens are attended to.

This was my little stab/attempt at humor to those who automatically blamed the President personally for every little thing that went wrong with this situation.

Anyhow, I'll leave it at that and leave the political debate for the Community Board.

 

[DebbieB]

So were you able to resolve it with USAir?

 

[Steph H]

This was my little stab/attempt at humor to those who automatically blamed the President personally for every little thing that went wrong with this situation.

I got a chuckle out of your stab at humor. Thanks.

Hope you get your issue resolved. Maybe they just haven't gotten organized yet and will hopefully get a standard policy in place. Good luck!

 

[jinglesmountjoy]

Customer service people love it when you're a smart-@$$. If they continue to give you a hard time, then just give an audible sigh (as if to say... you win)and let them know that you understand their policy and you'll just have to live with the tickets you have. Then ask to confirm that the flight time to New Orleans has not changed and it is still on schedule.

 

[DUDE MAN]

Without turning this political, I was kind of getting tired of seeing GWB get lambasted and blamed for every little thing that was (or wasn't) going on with the situation by some over on the Community Board with no blame at all going towards the mayor or governor (or the people who ignored the evacuaton order) or anyone else for that matter.

Please keep in mind that many in the New Orleans area do not have the means to evacuate. It may seem like a trivial thing to many on this board, but there are many people that live in poverty in this country. I don't think you can assume that they "ignored" an evacuation order.
Please don't blame them for not being able to evacuate a city.
Not really getting the humor in this situation.

 

[CarolA]

Please keep in mind that many in the New Orleans area do not have the means to evacuate. It may seem like a trivial thing to many on this board, but there are many people that live in poverty in this country. I don't think you can assume that they "ignored" an evacuation order.
Please don't blame them for not being able to evacuate a city.
Not really getting the humor in this situation.

Umm... what does this have to do with USAir? Talk about hijacking a thread.

So.. my question is did USAir do the right thing and waive their fees!!!

 

[DUDE MAN]

Umm... what does this have to do with USAir? Talk about hijacking a thread.

So.. my question is did USAir do the right thing and waive their fees!!!

I didn't think I hijacked the thread...just qouted one of the OP's comments with my comment. If I brought the issue up myself, then I would have hijacked the thread.

 

[goofyforlife]

If they've turned to outsourcing.....guess I'm never flying them again..

(just my own pet-peeve)

 

[safetymom]

Then I guess you won't be flying most of the major carriers. Most of them have already outsourced their customer service depts.

 

[CarolA]

So... what did USAir do??? I really want to know. I think it was TACKY of them to try to charge you to change this flight. I mean they KNOW they aren't going to fly the flight... I know they are in bankruptcy, but really.

(As to outsourcing... stick to SW if you can't handle outsourcing. I "think" they are still all owned services but....)

 

[rayelias]

I am typing this while on hold with Expedia (who, by the way, has been great trying to get this taken care of.)

I called the # on the website given by DebbieB (thank you!).

After quite a while, I was directed to call a different # for refunds. Without this sounding stereotypical, it did seem like the customer service reps were outsourced. BAD accents (very hard to understand) and all responses seemed "scripted." They claim the only way they'll waive the change fee is if I rebook to NOLA. The trip was for a business conference that, obviously, changed locations. So, that's not an option.

So, I call the refund #. In a nutshell - voicemail jail. Every time you press the # to "speak to an agent", the message says, "All agents are busy. We recommend you go to our website at ...". Then, you get disconnected. Nice.

Tried that MANY times at different times of the day. I figured they're getting a lot of calls, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and tried at various times of the day.

Now, I'm on hold with Expedia who is attempting to contact US Air. The rep is awesome - very courteous. It's been about 40 minutes so far, with him checking back with me every couple minutes or so. Apparently, they have to go through the same routes as me - calling the same #, etc. One would think they would have more influence than a regular customer, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Now, Expedia has just offered me $100.00 credit on their site, due to my inconvenience. I told them that was WAY more than I expected out of them - I don't hold Expedia at fault at all in this. They are still attempting to contact US Air.

After another 20 minutes or so, my Expedia agent got back on the phone with me. US Air said they will refund me the money, but I have to call their refund department to do so. This is the same # I could not get through to already and the very same department that my Expedia agent was on hold with for over an hour.

Needless to say, I am VERY disappointed in US Air. I currently have 3 other flights booked with them over the next 2 months. Never again, though.

At this point, if I continue to go on, I'm afraid my tone will become worse, so right now I'm going to submit this reply and continue to try and contact their rebate dept. (If anyone else is having a similar issue with them, their # is 877-257-5700 (refund dept.))

Sorry it took so long to reply, and sorry for the lengthy response. I'll fill you in if I get any further with US Air.